
Fourth Wall Films, via Truth First Film Alliance, Inc., requests a grant to produce “Moved by Waters”, a broadcast-quality visually-creative 28-minute film that will profile examples of diverse individuals and/or groups of individuals who look beyond that which may be socially or politically divisive to collaborate on an effort to create a wilder, more beautiful, more biologically diverse, and a more enduring Mississippi River Watershed. These collaborative efforts will show the benefits of rewilding, ie. reducing soil/nutrient loss, improving water quality, and increasing biodiversity. The key purpose of the film is to demonstrate to viewers that what unites us is more important than what divides us. The people and organizations in these stories will cross boundaries that impede the inherent spontaneity and self-regulating qualities of wild nature. These stories will also emphasize the importance of consensus and community building without overlooking the importance of individual freedom.
Truth First Film Alliance, Inc. (TFFA) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that promotes, supports, and encourages the production and exhibition of documentary films, and narrative films based on true stories, through public presentations and educational programs in the Quad Cities region. TFFA programs include film screenings and discussions with visiting filmmakers and classroom visits to talk about film and filmmaking with students. TFFA is the fiscal sponsor for this project.
Using on-camera interview comments, documentary footage of the Upper Mississippi Center’s 6-8 month collaborative environmental work in the Quad City region, and footage capturing other project efforts of rural and urban collaborations in the region (rural and urban roles in terms of the problems, as well as solutions), river and wildlife footage, landscape and cityscape footage, as well as maps and colorful graphics, the film will illustrate an inspiring and motivating universal message showing people working together for the common good. The stories depicted in the film will be life-centered, not just human-centered, as onscreen participants unite behind a belief that non-human members of the cosmos have inherent value, mutual understanding, trust, and respect and can create diverse communities benefiting all life.
The strength of our documentary films is in the way we tell the story, and the best way to tell the story emerges from the footage and interview comments gathered for the film.
The primary audience for the documentary will be the general public, with outreach to those who care about environmental issues but feel their voices have not been heard.
The completed film will be previewed at the 2023 Iowa Nature Summit and featured at a special Premiere Event at the Putnam Museum and Science Center (on September 27, 2024). It will also be accessible in many other places including via Facebook or Twitter (X) posts by other related organizations, and Fourth Wall Films’ social media accounts. “Moved by Waters” will have its Broadcast Premiere on WQPT-PBS in February 2024 reaching thousands of viewers. The film will be submitted to environmental film festivals and other film festivals, and special screenings will be presented to the public on an ongoing basis, as requested. The film will be posted and shared on Vimeo and YouTube later.
Fourth Wall Films won a Mid-America Emmy® for its short film “Over and Under: Wildlife Crossings” and “Places To Be Wild” received an Emmy nomination. Both were produced with grants from BeWildReWild. Fourth Wall Films is a four-time Emmy® winning, twelve-time Emmy® nominated and award-winning independent film production company based in the Illinois/Iowa Quad Cities on the Mississippi River. Since the release of our first feature-length historical documentary film in 2004, we have completed over twenty films that tell important but forgotten Midwestern history stories, including the Lost Nation: The Ioway documentary series. Each year we also complete work for select outside clients (Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City – State of South Dakota), and we work in partnership with local or regional non-profit organizations (Any Kid Anywhere: Sex Trafficking Survivor Stories – Braking Traffik). We look for projects that reflect our interests and values.
Grant funds will be used for four phases of the film project beginning in mid-November 2022 and ending in fall 2023.
This project will include aerial footage as an effective way to depict the visual sweep of three important rivers in the region: the Mississippi, the Rock, and the Wapsipinicon, as well as the four Iowa/Illinois cities positioned together on America’s greatest river. Grant funds will also cover a portion of the cost of travel, and the editing and finishing phase of the project, as well as a portion of the cost of music and stock footage licensing.
Grant Request: $55,000
Moved by Waters Screening Events Report
2025 EVENTS (More TBA)
Mar 6-9 (Thurs-Sun) Oneota Film Festival, Decorah, IA. ) “Moved by Waters”. Free to
the public.
Jan 20 (Thursday) 1:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m. Bettendorf Public Library, 2950 Learning
Campus Dr, Bettendorf, IA. “Moved by Waters”. Q&A with the filmmakers after the film.
FREE to the public.
Jan 15 (Wednesday) Oneota Film Festival – Pre-festival “Moved by Waters”
screening/meal.
2024 EVENTS
Viewership/Audience estimate total (all events): 9,000-10,000
Dec. 1 (Sunday) 3 p.m. WQAD-ABC TV aired “Moved by Waters” on their commercial
television station.
Oct. 16 (Wednesday) 1:00 p.m. Upper Mississippi River Conference, Western
Illinois University’s Riverfront Hall Room. “Moved by Waters”. Free to registrants.
Discussion with film producers Kelly & Tammy Rundle, Kathy Wine, Executive Director
of River Action; Amy Kay, Davenport, Iowa Clean Water Manager; Steve Gustafson,
Vice Chair Partners of Scott County Watersheds/Environmental Geologist.
*Sept. 17 (Tuesday) 6 p.m.-8 p.m. Cedar Rapids Public Library, Whipple
Auditorium, 450 Fifth Avenue SE, Cedar Rapids, IA. “Moved by Waters”, “Over &
Under: Wildlife Crossings”, “Places to be Wild”. Discussion with film producers Kelly &
Tammy Rundle, and Mike Wyrick, Chairman of Cedar-Wapsie Sierra Club chair.
Sponsored by the Cedar-Wapsie Group of the Sierra Club. FREE to the public.
*Sept. 14 (Saturday) 2:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. Wapsi River Environmental Education
Center, 31555 52nd Ave, Dixon, IA. “Moved by Waters”, “Over & Under: Wildlife
Crossings”, “Places to be Wild”. Discussion with film producers Kelly & Tammy Rundle,
and Wapsi River Environmental Center’s Director/Naturalist Dave Murcia; Steve
Gustafson, Vice Chair Partners of Scott County Watersheds/Environmental Geologist.
Hosted by the FREE to the public.
September 12 “Moved by Waters” is nominated for a Mid-America Emmy!
Sept. 10 (Tues) 5:30 p.m. Iowa Water Conference, Hyatt Regency, Coralville, Iowa
City, IA. Private Event. “Moved by Waters”. Discussion with film producers Kelly &
Tammy Rundle, and Amy Kay, Davenport, Iowa Clean Water Manager.
*Aug. 13 (Tues) 6:30 p.m.-8 p.m. Iowa City Public Library, Room A Theater, 123 S.
Linn Street, Iowa City, IA. “Moved by Waters”, “Over & Under: Wildlife Crossings”,
“Places to be Wild”. Discussion with conservationist Brad Friedhof and Steve
Gustafson, Vice Chair Partners of Scott County Watersheds/Environmental Geologist.
Hosted by Johnson County Conservation. FREE to the public.
June 25 (Tuesday) 1 p.m. National Garden Club, Hotel Kirkwood, Cedar Rapids, IA –
Private Event. “Moved by Waters”. Discussion with film producers Kelly & Tammy
Rundle.
*June 11 (Tuesday) 6:30 p.m. Waterloo Center for the Arts, Law Court Theatre, 225
Commercial Street, Waterloo, IA. “Moved by Waters”, “Over & Under: Wildlife
Crossings”, “Places to be Wild”. Light reception. Discussion with film producers Kelly &
Tammy Rundle, and EJ Gallagher, Chair of the Cedar Prairie Sierra Club. Hosted by the
Cedar Prairie Group of Sierra Club. Free to the public.
May 10 (Friday) 7 p.m. Sinnissippi Audubon Society presented “Moved by Waters”,
“Over & Under: Wildlife Crossings”, “Places to be Wild” to kick off “World Migratory Bird
Day” at the Nordlof Center, Rockford Public Library, 118 N Main St, Rockford, IL.
Discussion with film producers Kelly & Tammy Rundle. Free to the public
April 24 (Wednesday) 7 p.m., “Moved by Waters”, Northwest Illinois Film Office
Shorts-A-Palooza 2024 (Official Selection)–Celebrating Illinois Indie Filmmakers,
Morrison Tech, 701 Portland Ave, Morrison, IL.
April 20 (Saturday) “Moved by Waters”, “Over & Under: Wildlife Crossings”, “Places to
be Wild”. Discussion with film producers Kelly & Tammy Rundle. Presented for
Environmental Film Day, Arts Barn Gallery, 311 Kent Square Rd., Gaithersburg, MD.
Free to the public.
April 4 (Thursday) 7 p.m. Augustana College, Olin Auditorium, Rock Island, IL.
“Moved by Waters”. Discussion with film producer Kelly Rundle, Steve Gustafson, Vice
Chair Partners of Scott County Watersheds/Environmental Geologist; Dr. Brittany
McCall, Augustana professor of biology (specializes in studying fish in freshwater
systems), Amy Kay, City of Davenport Clean Water Manager, Dr. Michael Reisner,
director of Augustana’s Upper Mississippi Center. Hosted by Augustana College. Free
to the public.
*March 12 (Tuesday) 7 p.m. Northwest Illinois Film Office & Morrison Institute of
Technology Theater, 701 Portland Ave., Morrison, Illinois. “Moved by Waters”, “Over &
Under: Wildlife Crossings”, “Places to be Wild”. Discussion with film producers Kelly &
Tammy Rundle. Hosted by the Northwest Illinois Film Office. Free to the public.
March 10 (Sunday) 10 a.m. St. Paul Lutheran Church, 2136 N Brady St, Davenport,
IA.“Moved by Waters”. Discussion with film producers Kelly & Tammy Rundle, Mike
Paustian, Chairman of Partners of Scott County Watersheds, and Dick Riddell, former
Executive Director of QCCA Wetlands Center.
March 8 (Friday) 7 p.m. Grinnell College, Humanities and Social Studies Building
Theater, Grinnell, IA. “Moved by Waters”, “Over & Under: Wildlife Crossings”, “Places to
be Wild”. Discussion with film producers Kelly & Tammy Rundle, and Cora Jakubiak,
Prairie Studies Director. Hosted by Grinnell College.
March 2 (Saturday) Oneota Film Festival, 4 p.m. “Places to be Wild”. VFW, 104 State
St, Decorah, IA. Q&A with filmmakers Kelly & Tammy Rundle.
March 1 (Friday) Oneota Film Festival, 4 p.m. “Places to be Wild”, Hotel Winneshiek,
104 E Water St, Decorah, IA. Q&A with filmmakers Kelly & Tammy Rundle.
Feb 20 (Tuesday) 9:30 p.m. WQPT-PBS aired “Moved by Waters.
Feb 18 (Sunday) 7 p.m. WQPT-PBS aired “Moved by Waters”. (Audience 2500+)
Feb 17 (Saturday) 11:30 a.m. Bald Eagle Days, QCCA Expo Center, 2621 4th Ave,
Rock Island, Illinois. “Moved by Waters”. Discussion with filmmakers Kelly & Tammy
Rundle.
Jan 27 (Saturday) 3 p.m.-4:30 p.m. PREMIERE – Putnam Museum National
Geographic Giant Screen, 1717 W 12th St, Davenport, IA. “Moved by Waters”, “Over
& Under: Wildlife Crossings”, “Places to be Wild” Discussion with filmmakers Kelly &
Tammy Rundle; Amy Kay, Clean Water Manager for the City of Davenport; Kathy Wine,
Exec Director, River Action; Mike Paustian, Chair Partners of Scott County Watershed;
Michael Reisner, Dir. Of Augustana College’s Upper Mississippi Studies Center; Robb
Ewoldt, Farmer & District 6 Director for the Iowa Soybean Association; Dave Murcia,
Director/Naturalist, Wapsi Environmental Education Center; Dan Breidenstein, Vice
President of Living Lands and Waters.